Using PDF files in MicroStation

I have a client that has scanned old mylar drawings to PDF's. Now they
want us to import the PDF into a MicroStation drawing and draw new
work on top of it.

I think mappers do this all the time but I am having NO LUCK. Any
suggestions on how to effectively do this?

Thanks,
Rog

 

.....I don't know of any way to either import or attach a PDF to a DGN.
Anyone else out there?

~Inga

 

Can viewcompanion convert PDF to DWG-

I have converted a scanned image to plot file, and then from plot file to
dwg and then ustn. you do not get
straight lines, but horizontal ones representing the rasterised vectors, the
files are massive but it does work
(bugger to edit though- you have to keep using the fence tool)

 

Hamstra, where are you? GNU stuff should be right up your alley.

If all you want is something to trace over why don't you convert your
PDF's to a bitmap format that ustn likes?

If you want a raster format you can try this:
http://www.pstoedit.net/pstoedit

I have no idea how well the vector conversions work, and
it will probably be slightly painful to set up. However, if it works
**anywhere** near as well as Ghostscript does creating PDF files you
will be pleased.

BTW, the price is right... zero USD.

FWIW, I convert "other cad" postscript files using Ghostscript driven
by a batch file on a regular basis...so it's probable that a batch
file can drive this puppy for raster to vector conversions too. If
this doesn't work then GS View is painless, but not as fast. GS View
is free too.

William Few

P.S. If anyone plays with this ... please post your results. Thanks.

 

Right, it is.

If preserving image fidelity is more important than editability, then
this is probably the best approach.

pstoedit works, but it can be pretty fussy about the format of what is
fed into it. That's probably more of a problem with Postscript than
PDF, but even with PDF I wouldn't say pstoedit is a sure bet --
depends somewhat on the quality of the software that generated the PDF
in the first place. However, almost all of the output formats that
pstoedit supports aren't usable within MicroStation. Probably the
best bet is DXF, but image quality will suffer (especially for things
like line weights, text, etc.) The basic problem is that you are
going from a more capable format in terms of image quality (PDF) to a
lesser format (DXF). It can't work losslessly.

But it ain't hard for a CAD programmer to setup .

Mark

 

Robert ...

PDF describes 2D geometry in one format (PostScript) while the plotfile
describes 2D geometry in the HP graphics language. The question you want
answered is this: "Has anyone written a converter whose input is vector
format X and whose output is vector format Y? (where you substitute any two
vector formats for X and Y)"

There's no obvious reason why anyone would write such a converter: plot
files inevitably have less content than the application that created them.
It's only in rare circumstances that the original application is unavailable
and you must contemplate this less than optimal route. You may be 'lucky'
and find that there's a freeware tool somewhere to accomplish this task. To
find such a converter, you must search the web.

 

pstoedit will do it.

 

Thanks for all the input! I ended up converting the PDF's to Tiff's
and doing a raster reference attachment. This worked great for what I
was needing to do and since the client wants PDF's of the files back,
I can loose the Tiff's when I issue the package.

Tip: I attached the Tiff with a color that faded when plotted. This
made for a nice readable background while allowing the new work to be
drawn as bold on top of the file.